The Dangers of a Wandering Mind
by Chatterbox Angel
Summary: A big misunderstanding is caused when Corny's mind wanders during a certain conversation. Luis leaves, and Corny's heart breaks as he wonders if his love will ever come back. CornyLuis


Title: The Dangers of a Wandering Mind

Summary: A big misunderstanding is caused when Corny's mind wanders during a certain conversation. Luis leaves, and Corny's heart breaks as he wonders if his love will ever come back. CornyLuis

Disclaimer: I do not own Tithe, Valiant, Ironside, or any of the characters. That happy power belongs to the very talented Holly Black.

Rating: T

Genre: Romance/Angst

Author: Chatterbox Angel

Corny was lying alone in the bed that he and Luis shared, or at least that they used to share. His cheeks were wet from the unending tears that fell from his eyes. His entire being was filled with excruciating pain. The emptiness that was rapidly spreading from the thought that Luis might never come back was the worst kind of agony he'd ever felt. Being alone like this was torture. And what was the cause of all this? A stupid statement he had made at the wrong time. A misunderstanding because he was thinking about one thing while his boyfriend had been talking about another.

Corny longed to run his hands through Luis's long black hair. Feel the soft, gentle lips against his own. Get lost in the passion of touching and being touched. Hear Luis whisper how much he loved Corny in his ear over and over again. But it wasn't happening then. It wasn't happening ever again, because Corny just had to open his big mouth at the wrong time. He let out a choked sob of despair, that would have made anyone who heard wonder what was dying, as the tears started streaming down harder than they had before.

Corny grabbed a pillow and hugged it tightly against his chest as though it was the only thing keeping him sane, keeping him alive. As he thought back to what happened less than a day afore, he fell asleep wishing with all his might it had just been a screwed up nightmare.

Flashback

Corny and Luis were sitting the apartment that was on the second floor of their café / Fairie curse healing site. Moon in a Cup had been open for just over eight months, and business was better than anyone had ever expected. Both fey and human alike seemed to enjoy the strange yet welcoming atmosphere the café provided.

Anyway, as per usual, Luis had been telling Corny about his day while the latter would sit in his lap and snuggle against Luis's chest with pale arms wrapped around a darker neck. Their relationship had started off a little shaky but slowly grew into something stronger than steel. For Corny, Luis was a necessity now. He couldn't live without the warmth and love that exuded from his boyfriend's body. Corny needed Luis more than he needed air.

That day, the conversation took a somewhat serious turn to the topic of what atrocities some of the less than desirable fey had committed against them. Corny's mind instantly traveled to Nephemal and Adair. His mind wandered back. Back to the time even before the failed tithe.

He had stupidly followed Kaye into the Unseelie Court, against his better judgment, just to know what he had seen was real. So, it was his own fault that Nephemal had enchanted him, been given the chance to control him, and humiliate him. Corny had even gone back for more. Then, he had killed Nephemal after Kaye poisoned him with iron. In the end, they had both gotten what they deserved. Then, he attacked Adair and was given the curse of a withering touch. Corny had used that to kill Adair. Again, both parties had gotten what they deserved.

"Corny," Luis said, snapping the younger teen out of his musings. "Corny, what are you thinking?" Luis had noticed the far out glaze in Corny's eyes. He was wondering what he had said to spark such an unusual reaction from his boyfriend.

"Got what was deserved," Corny had answered, still slightly in a daze as the unpleasant memories slowly filtered themselves away. "Just desserts."

"What?" Luis cried out in a tone that was filled with the pain of betrayal. "You think my brother got what he deserved. That the fey should have killed him." Before Corny had a chance to say anything, before he even had a chance to process the information, Luis was gone. He had gently, forcibly pushed Corny off his lap, jumped up, and raced out of the building, leaving Corny all alone and wondering how things had taken such a bad turn.

Flashback End

Luis hadn't taken anything with him, just left and disappeared without a trace. When Kaye came in the next morning, she asked Corny where Luis was. After all, he was normally behind the counter, already waiting for the early bird customers before she even arrived. Corny, not knowing what else to do, had broken down. Crying into Kaye's shoulder, he managed to gasp out in between sobs what had occurred.

She had decided to leave the shop closed for the day in lieu of going on a Luis hunt. That had been twelve hours ago, and Corny had never had much hope for the success of her quest to begin with. Now, all he felt was the crushing agony of grief that came with the loss of such a deep-seated love.

Several hours later, Corny woke up to the feeling of someone stroking his hair very softly, so softly like there was a fear that he would break were the stroking even the slightest bit rougher. With his eyes still squeezed shut, Corny didn't bother to open them as he turned away from the gentle touch. He did not want to see the pity and guilt in the pixie's eyes that he knew he would, should he open his own.

"I messed up, Kaye," he said in a voice so full of pain, he wondered at how he had was still able to speak. "I let my mind wander and ended up saying the worst possible thing at the worst possible time. It's my own fault, too. Thinking about Nephemal and Adair instead of listening to him talk. Luis will never forgive me."

"That's not true," a soft voice mumbled from lips that were brushing across the back of his neck. Corny froze. He knew that voice, he knew those lips. The emptiness that had filled him was being dispersed. The crushing despair and anguish was being filtered away through hope. Slowly, hesitantly, as though afraid to wake up from a dream, Corny turned around to see Luis there, lying next to him, smiling as though the past thirty or so hours truly had been nothing but an extremely agonizing nightmare.

"You're back, you're here," Corny's voice was filled with disbelief as his body moved of it's own accord. He crushed himself against Luis. His lips pressing desperately against Luis's, biting and nipping frantically, begging for entrance. His hands threaded themselves into the thick cornrows, forcing Luis to be pulled as close to him as humanly possible.

In return, Luis rolled them slightly so that his body was on top of Corny's. One hand was positioned against the bed, so he would not completely crush his boyfriend. The other threaded itself in shoulder-length died black hair. Luis gladly opened his mouth slid his tongue against Corny's to begin a passionate battle that turned into a thirty-five minute make-out session.

When they finally parted, Luis's lips remained close enough to Corny's that there was still a strand of sticky saliva connected between the two. Corny was breathing heavily, his face flushed and heart pounding wildly in his chest. Not daring to believe it was real, he quietly, almost inaudibly asked, "So, you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive," and Luis advanced back down to claim Corny's already swollen lips in another heated kiss.

A/N: Yay! Another successfully finished fan fiction. This time it's got the best of both worlds: it's Tithe and Yaoi at the same time! Yaoi boy on boy make-out action for you non-anime people Either way, thanks for reading and please drop a review telling me what you thought.

I love reviewers, but I do have a request. I would really love for someone to seriously critique my work. It doesn't have to stop at constructive criticism. I'd love for someone to really pick apart my work and tell me every little thing they hated, what needs to be improved, and what parts of my writing they liked best. Believe me when I say I love all reviews, and it's really nice to know people appreciate my work. However, I'm a far cry from being perfect, and there's always room to improve. Also, if I can get better, I can give better fan fiction to my readers. Anyway, thanks again for reading this fan fiction and hopefully you seriously considered my request.


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